Let’s see why and, above all, how to improve your push-off when diving in and tumble-turning.
As we all know, there are four different swim strokes, but over the last few years the underwater phase has come to be seen as a fifth stroke.
The exercises I am proposing today will be specifically aimed at improving your underwater phase or, in other words, strengthening your push-off: either from the wall during a tumble turn or off the starting block when diving in.
The reason for this is very simple: having the best underwater phase possible will be totally useless unless you can push off (the wall or starting block) properly. That is because pushing off hard during a tumble turn or when diving in enables you to rapidly accelerate to a fast pace.
The equation is very simple:
best push-off
=
start swimming at a faster pace
=
less energy “wasted” in reaching top speed
For this equation to be right, a number of factors come into play: your body position determining how hydrodynamic you are and the flexibility of your movement under the water (although, as we have said, everything ultimately depends on your push-off with your legs).
There is a word that sums up perfectly what your push-off should be like: explosive. This means the main muscles…
